Disrupting the Clinical Trials Industry with Lightship

We are thrilled to announce our continued partnership with Lightship, the leading virtual-first provider of clinical trials. In December 2019, Define Ventures co-led Lightship’s Series B round and we are excited to double down in their most recent $40m round of fresh capital.

The clinical trials industry in the US is a $40B+ market ripe for disruption. For the most part, trials are disjointed, expensive, and inefficient for all stakeholders, including pharma, contract research organizations (CROs), and patients. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the pain points associated with trial administration and accelerated the adoption of digital solutions to relieve sponsors of financial burden.

Core to our thesis in pharma tech is that the drug development process will continue to become “decentralized”. This paradigm shift will involve deploying patient-first models and expanding clinical trials to diverse populations, leveraging data and innovative tools for powering decisions across the value chain, and continued regulatory momentum in favor of cost-effective trial design. Furthermore, as pharma becomes inundated with non-clinical grade point solutions, we believe that demonstrating operational excellence and interoperability with best-of-breed solutions will become paramount for delivering long-term value.

The Lightship team’s proven track record and alignment with this core vision gives us strong conviction in their ability to further scale their model. The team’s differentiated approach to recruitment and patient management are already yielding faster enrollment times, improved patient retention, and more efficient study operations across a diverse set of therapeutic areas.

This new round of financing will help Lightship drive US and international expansion and drive our continued momentum and growth with multiple top pharma clients. Our work with Lightship has involved facilitating partnerships with PIs, large provider systems, and collaborative partners in multiple markets:

“At Lightship we exist to provide hope for all patients and we love Define’s commitment to this purpose. The Define team’s deep understanding of our industry and market combined with operational expertise and support makes them the ideal partner for Lightship as we perfect the way clinical trials are delivered.” — David MacMurchy, CEO

We could not be more excited to play a part in Lightship’s continued success as they redefine how clinical trials are administered and establish themselves as a category-leader in the space.